Realistic travel time

[41Willys]

If I didn't have a kid a 2 hour commute would be doable, but rite now I couldn't do it with a 12 year old girl waiting at home for me.Unless I "do" get a job in down town.Thank you for all the input!!

[41Willys]

I haven't checked commute time's. How long is the ferry ride ?

[zenfull]

Here's the link to all WA state ferries for schedules fares etc.

Official Washington State Ferries Homepage

[41Willys]

You guys with the 2 -2 1/2 traveling times to work, I have a question.

How many actual miles are you traveling? Not counting the Ferry or time getting to the ferry. I mean from the time you depart the Ferry in Seattle to your jobs front door.

[scirocco22]

This is just my opinion but there's no way you'd want to commute to Bellevue or Redmond from Bainbridge Island everyday. You'll spend at least five hours a day commuting.

[Wanderlust07]

That's the misleading part...the miles you travel is not even remotely related to the time it takes to do a ferry commute. There are so many variables that are out of your control that it makes the daily ferry commute unpredictable and often aggravating.

Let me provide an example: say that you live on BI and you catch a morning ferry to Seattle. If you live close enough to walk onto the ferry, you can cut it pretty close (unless you want a seat, as the "peak" runs can be crowded). If you take the bus to the terminal, you'll need to factor in that additional time, and if there's any traffic on the way to the ferry, it will affect your arrival time. The ferry system lists the travel time across the Sound as 35 minutes. Once you arrive in Seattle, you may need to catch a bus to the eastside, and that bus will likely make several stops before it gets onto either 520 or I-90, the two bridges that will take you from Seattle to Bellevue. If you choose to drive your car onto the ferry, be prepared to queue up in line very early to ensure that you make it on, pay a high fare (it's $14.45 each way for a vehicle under 20' and driver only), then fight traffic out of downtown Seattle to get to the eastside. It will end up taking a great deal more time than it seems like it should take. You'll probably end up, like most people do, eating a lot of fast food when you can get it because you'll get home so late that it will be well past when you would normally eat dinner. You may do the same in the morning on your way to the ferry because you don't have time for a leisurely, healthy breakfast. If you are a desk jockey, like many ferry commuters are, the "extreme commuting" lifestyle will have deleterious effects on your health. You'll do the same, but probably longer, commute in reverse to get home in the evening.

I thought Kitsap County sounded like a great place to live until I did the ferry commute for an extended period of time and experienced it at both its best and its worst. Based on my personal experiences, it would take a person with a saint's patience and no expectation of a life outside of work during the week to do that commute.

[Wanderlust07]

One more comment: the traffic itself in downtown Seattle is a killer. I worked in downtown Seattle and there were times when I would either miss my ferry because downtown traffic was so bad that the bus I took couldn't get there in time (it was a treat to wave goodbye to the departing ferry), or it would take about 35 minutes to drive about 5 blocks to get to a freeway entrance. While I don't do the eastside commute, I have lived in Kirkland, and I-405 can get terribly congested during rush hour.

[41Willys]

Well put. OK, so the Island option seems to be closing. Thanks for all the input!